Oil-fed furnace.



A. H. LIGHT.

OIL FED FURNACE. 7 APPLICATION FILED AUG. 23, 1909.

980,806. Patented Jan. 3, 1911.

3 8HEETS-BHEET 1.

A. H. LIGHT.

OIL FED FURNACE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 23,1909.

Patented Jan 3, 1911.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

A. H. LIGHT.

01L FED FURNACE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 23, 1909.

QSQBOG, Patented Jan. 3, 1911. 1

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

UNITED STATES PALlhZNT OFFICE.

ARTHUR H. LIGHT, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

OIL-FED FURNACE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

" Patented Jan. 3, 1911.

Application filed August 23, 1909. Serial No. 514,222.

Furnaces; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to oil fed furnaces,

I and has for its object to produce a furnace of this nature in which the fuel mixture and oxygen are uniformly fed or distributed to every portion of the fire box, and in whlch a minimum of free oxygen passes through the furnace.

To these ends the invention consists in the novel details of construction and combinations of parts more fully hereinafter described and particularly pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings forming a part ofthis specification in which like numerals refer to like parts in all the views :-Figure 1 represents an end elevational view of an oil fed furnace of the 10- comotive type; Fig. 2, is a sectional side elevutional view of a portion of said furnace; Fig. 3, is a sectional view of the superheater used in connection with the furnace; Fig. 4,

.is a detail sectional view of the grate portion of the furnace; and, Fig. 5 is aperspective view of a pair of fire clay tiles used in the furnace.

1 represents any suitable oil supply, as for example, a pipe leading to a tank carried by the tender of the locomotive, and having a constant pressure maintained therein. 2 represents a suitable valve controlling said pipe, 3 a steam supply controlled by the valve 4, and connected with a pipe 5 passing to the hinge 6 of the superhealer 7, which hinge is hollow and connnunicates with a short pipe 8 connected with one end of the coils 9 of said superheater, the other end of said coils being connected with a similar short pipe 10, eoimnlmicalingwith another hollow portion of the hinge G and connected with the distributing pipe 11 provided with the branches l2 and 13, controlled by the valves 14 and 15, respectively,

lives using oil, under and leading into a suitable atomizing and mixing chamber 17, all as clearly set forth inm companion application for oil burn-' ers led August 23, 1909 Serial Number 514,221.

Leading from the atomizing chamber 17 are a plurality of pipes 18 and 19, controlled respectively by the three-wa valves 20 and 21, and leading from the Va ve 20 is a connection 22 for feeding the side burners 23,

while leading from the valve 21 is zi -similar pipe 24 communicating with the side burners 25. I)

The short connections 27 and 28, respectively, lead from the valves 20 and 21 to the pilot lights 29 and 30.

Connected to the pipes 3 and 5, is a short pipe 31 controlled by the valve 32, and

adapted to connect with any extraneous I source of steam, in order to furnish fuel to the burners 23 and 25 before steam has been raised in the locomotive boiler.

35 represents any suitable supplypipe for live steam controlled by the valve 36, and communicating with the pressure regulator 37, controlled by the handwheel 38, and adapted to control the supply of oil in the chamber 17, in accordance with the varizu Lions of the steam pressure.

39 represents a hand wheel which permits the supply of oil in the chamber 17 to be automatical y controlled, or which the same to be controlled by hand, al as is fully and clea"ly set forth in my companion case above. a

It is well known that firemen on locomoresent conditions, have to give practically a 1 their attention to the oil supply to the furnace, and very little attention can be iven'to the control of the air supply. in fact, with the present devices employed, it would be very difficult, if

not impossible, for them to attend to both of these features in a perfect manner. For this reason, there is placed above the atomizing chamber 171ml automatic regulator controlled by the pressure of the steam in the boiler, so that the amount of carbon entering the furnace, will always be in proportion to the amount of steam required. In addition to this, there is provided the hand lever 40 playing over the rack 41, and pivotedat 42, as illustrated. The lower end of this lever jets of fuel delivered by the burner tips 54..

air not circulate between them and said .ile.

In additionto this, these corrugations can be made to double the heating surface exposed to the incoming air, and, therefore, to raise its temperature to a very high point before w it is allowed to pass upward into the furnace through the passages 50, as indicated by thearrows. These passages are conveniently formed by providing the ends of the U10 with curved recesses 51, as unlimited. and

then abutting said ends. In addition to the passages 50, however other larger passages 53' are provided at the sides of the furnace,

just below the tips 54 of the side burners and25. These passages are formed by making the side tile 56 sufficiently short to l ave wider passages 53between their edges 1 nd the side Walls of the furnace, and these assages are made to extend the entire ength of the fire box and their centers are located say about four and one-half inches inside the furnace from each burner tip, so that every large percent. of highly heated air passes up next to the side walls of the furnace, and into intimate contact with the- As said jets naturally tend to enlarge to a cone-shape as they enter'the furnace, they will meet the rest of the air passing through the passages 50, and will be so intimately commingled therewith, that a practically perfect combustion is assured, so long as sufficient air is permitted to pass the damper vanes 45. In other words, the combustion is so perfect, owing to the air bein properly distributed and so highly heater, that the fire clay tile 4:? often reach a white heat, and, therefore, automatically tend to maintain the perfect combustion desired; so that when the furnace is once in operation there is no tendency at all, provided, of course, sufiicient oxygen is fed thereto, for the temperatnre-to fall to the low points that it necessalri ly does under-the present conditions, j

i hc operation of this oil fed fui'ha'qe is as "follows: The fireman, on leaving the station, or after he has made a lengthy-stay at a station and extinguished all of his fires except the pilot lights 29 and 30, takes his place at his seat, manipulates the lever 4() which controls the 'damper shutters 4.5 and 'tm'ns on the oil aii d steam supplies. Mfttr his fires in the burners 23 and 25 have 'been burning for a short time he notics if black smoke is being emitted'from hi stack. If

such points is not all consumed; therefore,J-.

it is, he admits more air, and if this'does not clear away the smoke, he continues to admit air until the smoke appears a hazy gray at all times, which indicates that the furnace is functioning properly. If, on the other hand, he notices the smoke to clear away entirely, it is anindication that heis admitting too much air for the carbon delivered to the furnace, and he then turns the lever -tO in the opposite direction until 7 the smoke returns to a hazy gray color.

Under the present conditions, the furnaces heretofore employed make. no provision for the proper distribution of oxygen nor for" i the high temperatures attained by the furnace disclosed. and when black smoke is emitted from the stack. of any ofth'ese fur naces, it. of course, is said that suilicient oxygen is not present in the the box; but this really only means that there is a 'lack' of oxygen in the center of the most active part of the fire. or just abovethe oint where substantially all of the carbon 18 be-' ing supplied by one or two jets. At the other points of the firebox, outside of thisv exist, and generally does exist, in amplequantity, but thetemperatureis so poor, or the intimate mixture of the fuel andoxygen is so imperfect, that the carbon at black smoke will still be observed to beemit ted from the stack even when the Whole fu nace has sufiicient ox gen for perfect .eom-, bustion; and simply ecause of the" uneven manner in which the carbon is distributed to the different parts of'the furnace and the uneven temperatures that are allowed to exist in ditferent parts thereof. With the structure disclosed above, on the other hand, i it will be observed, that air is supplied near the burner tips where there is more fuel in greater quantities, than it is farther away where there is less fuel, and that in all cases "It is highly heated before ignition" takes place. In practice 'itis found, therefore, that black smoke is not emitteclf unless there is a real lack of oxygen suppliedto the fur-- mice. The perfect combustion attained in j this furnace is also greatly aided by the fact that the atonnzmg steam is superheated be foi'ta it-passes into the atomizing chamber 17, and, therefore, the fuel mixtureis in a I state closely bordering that of vaporization before it enters the" furnace.

furnace door, and the steam passes thrbugh its hinge, so that it is unnecessary to d1s-- connect the same when access to the fire box is desired. I I

It is obvious that those 'skilld the art may widely vary the detailsxof construction and the arrangement .of'parts without departing from the spirit'of this invention if. and, therefore, it is not desired to limit the-13b,

active portion, however, free oxygen may This super heater, it will be observed, is bolted to the same to either of these features, except as may be required by the claims.

\Vhat I claim is:

1. In an oil fed furnace, the combination of an oil supply pipe; a steam supply pipe; a superheater through which the steam passes; an atomizing chamber connected to said superheater and with said oil supply pipe in which said oil and steam are finely divided; a plurality of burner tips delivermg into the furnace; connections between said chamber and said tips; and means to supply air to said furnace comprising a. plurality ofpassages located at. varying distances from said tips, the passage nearest said tips being larger than those away from the same; substantially as described.

2. In an oil fedfurnace the combination of an oil supply pipe; a steam supply'pipe; a superheater through .which the steam passes; an atomizing chamber connected with .said super-heater and said oil supply pipe in which said oil and steam are finely divided; :1 burner tip delivering into the furnace; a connection between said chamber and said tip; means comprising a horizontal and a vertical passage for supplying a quantity of air near said tip; means com rising a passage of less dimensions than sai vertical passage and connected with said horizontal passage for supplying a less quantity of air farther away from said tip and means for heating said air before itreaches the fuel mixture, substantiall as described. p

3. In an oil fed furnace the combination of an oil supply. pipe; a steam supply pipe; '21 superheater through which the steam passes; an atomizing chamber connected with said superheater and oil supply pipe in which said oil and steam are finely divided; a burner tip delivering into the furnace; a connection between said chamber and said tip; means for supplying air near said tip; additionalmeans for supplying air away from said tip in a less quantity and comprising a plurality of passages inclined toward said tip; means for heating said air before it reaches the fuel mixture: and a damper controlling the admission of air to said air supplying means, substantially as described.

4. In an oil fed furnace, the combination of an oil supply pipe; a steam supply pipe; a su 'ierhcater through which the steam passes; an atomizing chamber connected to said superheater and oil supply pipe. in which the o l and steam are finely divided; a burner tip in said furnace; a connection between said chamber and said tip; a passage located in said furnace to supply air near said tip; additional passages each of a less size than said last named passage adapt ed to supply air elsewhere in the fire box of said furnace: tiles provided with corrugated lower surfaces and having said additional passages between them, located in said fire provided with grate bars the combination of a fuel supply pipe; means to deliver the fuel to sa1d furnace: means to'regulate the air supplied to said furnace; and corrugated tile resting on said grate bars adapted to hea said air before it reaches said fuel; said tile provided with the smaller air passages 50 near the center of said fire box, and providing the larger air passages 53 at the sides of said box; substantially as described.

(3. In an oil fed furnace having a fire box provided with grate bars, the combination of a fuel supply pipe; a plurality of burner nozzles delivering said fuel through the sides of said fire box; means to regulate the air supplied to said furnace; and corrugated tile resting on said grate bars adapted to heat said air before it reaches said fuel; said tile provided with the smaller air passages 50 near the center of said fire box, and providingthe larger air passages 53 at the sides of said box; substantially as described.

7. In an oil fed furnace having a fire box, the combination of a superheated steam supply pipe; an oil supply pipe; a mixing chamber connected to said pipes; means for controlling the How of fuel through said oil supply pipe; means for feeding the mixed oil and steam to saidfire box; means for controlling the air supply to said furnace; and means comprising ports of successively diminishing areas to distribute said air in'said hex to the places containingthe mixed oil and steam. and in proportion to t-he fuel to be consumed at said places,substantially as described.

8. In an oil fed furnace having a fire box, the cmnbination of a superheated-steam pipe; an oil pipe; a mixing chamber connected to said pipes; means for controlling the flow through said pipes; means for feeding-the mixed oil and steam to said fire box; means for controlling the air supply to said furnace; means to heat said air to a high temperature before it reaches said oil and steam: and means comprising ports of suc- -eessively diminishing areas to distribute said air in said box to the places containing said mixed oil and steam in proportion to the fuel to be consumed at. said places, substantially as described.

9. In an oil fed furnace, having a fire box, the combination of an oil supply pipe; 0.

steam su )l\' )i )ea mixin chamber for ll l said oil and steam;means connected to said chamber for feeding the mixed oil and steam to the sides of said fire box; means for con trolling the air supply to said furnace; means to heat said air to a high temperature before it reaches said oil and steam; passages near the center offjsz ic furnuce for 3 said fire box; smaller air passages for feedsziid'air; and largeibpassag he sides of ing air near 'the center of said box; and the fire box, below sziicl fee ingnieans for means for heating said air, before it, enters the admission of larger quantities of air; the box; substantially as described;

In testimony whereof, I afiix 5 substantially as described.

- tin-e, 1n, presence of two Witness A Hf l'iIGHTI y gn -.15 10. In airo'il'"leil furnaee having :itire.

box, the combination of n plurality of noz- -zles adapted to-feed mixed oil and steam en- \Vitnesses:

tering the sides of said box; air passages L. C. POTTER, 10 arranged under said nozzles at the sides of MAMIE Brunt;- 

